City Blues
by NorthEasternSpirit
Summary: Nimbasa city… ever since the humans left, this has become the drug capitol of the Unova region. Killings are an everyday occurrence, and the police can't keep them down. A limited number of skilled detectives make it their work to keep justice in the city. Meet Ryuji the Vaporeon and his charming partner, Ammy the Espeon…
1. Chapter 1

Ryuji's eyes blinked open as his alarm went off. He pushed down the button with his left paw, and groaned. "At least it's Friday." He yawned, then stepped out of his room. Twenty years had passed since the humans had left the Unova region, and nobody really knew why. Nimbasa had become completely Pokemon adapted, with technologies to ease their lives. Still, without humans to moderate things, crime had risen drastically. And Ryuji's job was to fight it, as a Vaporeon detective, with his partner Ammy. He went inside the shower, washed up, and put on his necklace with his keys on it. He got up, and snapped on his backpack with some difficulty, due to him walking on fours, then walked outside onto the crowded, snowy streets. Around the first corner, a Magmar was selling some cooked meat, while a Meganium was selling organic vegetables.

He slid a few coins to the Meganium, and bought 3 sitrus berries. She nodded, then brought out the berries, and he continued on his way. He brushed the snow off the stairs leading up to his office, and, putting the key between his teeth, unlocked the door. He went inside, took off his bag, and sat down. He pulled out two letters from his mailbox, one of which was his monthly pay from the government, and the other was a new case. He pulled both out of their envelopes, slid 40% to where Ammy would come to sit in 3 minutes, and read the new case.

_Ryuji and Ammy,_

_ Well, we've got another case, and I know this is your third case of the week, but everybody else is busy. Anyways, this case is trying to find out who murdered a Liepard. If you want to see the body, it's at the NPD. The rest of the information is in the envelope. Hopefully, you two can bring the killer down._

_ Chief_

Ryuji quietly fanned through the facts. She had been a point of jealously from her brother, she had gotten into an argument with a Manectric who was her boyfriend, and the murder weapon had been a… fire-type Pokemon? Things just didn't add up… unless they had all worked together. Ryuji sat down quietly to think about everything. And her body had been in an abandoned hotel.

_"Knock, knock"_

Ryuji sat up, then unlocked the door. "Ah, Ammy. You're late, today."

She sighed. "A young Rattata tried to steal my necklace. I taught him a lesson. Still, sorry for being late." Ammy was an Espeon a year younger than his 19 years. The two of them had been assigned to work together only one and a half weeks ago, and they were still strangers to each other. They had yet to get in a fight, but things were still far from comfortable.

"Well, we got our first paycheck as partners. Your money's over there," motioning with his tail.

"Oh, how much'd you give me? 25%?" She looked pretty excited about getting money.

He grinned. "How about 40%?"

"Oh, but that's…" She paused for a moment to calculate. "That's like 4,000 Poke'! Just for one week of work! Wow…"

She seemed to revert back to her quiet, normal personality with about ten seconds. "Thanks, Ryuji."

"Naw, you've earned it this week. If you keep up the work, we can talk about splitting it 50-50. He walked over to his work desk, and handed Ammy the evidence. "Here, read over the case, and tell me what you think." Even though she was only a year younger than himself, he was still mentoring her.

She frowned as she silently read it over, then turned to face Ryuji. "Well… this one is pretty simple… either her brother or boyfriend was allied with a fire-type."

He nodded. "Those burns, just by the picture, are either from a Chandelure, which don't live this far south, or a Ninetales, or a Typhlosion. The other two are both pretty rare, and we haven't found crimes committed by either of those species recently."

She pondered over it, a little bit. "Well, say it happens to just be another Pokemon trying to frame one of those… this case could get a lot more complicated really quickly."

Ryuji quietly peered out the window. It was starting to snow again. When he turned around, Ammy was fumbling with some switches. "Do we have a heater here? It's cold!" Ryuji let out laugh.

"Well, up for some tea?"

The two of them headed along the snow sidewalk in the crisp winter air. Ryuji lent her his scarf, and they arrived at the Café pretty quickly.

"Ammy, what do you want? My treat, by the way."

"Oh, how about some pecha tea? Thanks, Ryuji."

"No problem. So yeah, one of those, and a Razz spice tea too." He handed over the coins, and the two of them sat down at a table near the center of the café.

After a few minutes, a young Houndour pushed a small cart forward with the tea, and gently slid both bowls in front of them. "Thanks, man," said Ryuji, and Luxio nodded before walking away.

Ammy too a few laps at her tea, then said, "How about you tell me about yourself? You've never really let me know about your backstory.

He decided to lie down, and Ammy did the same. "Well, our family is originally from Kanto, Cerulean city to be exact. My parent's trainer owned a large store there, and they were living the life of luxury. When the humans moved away, they were forced to adapt, and quickly became some of the best problem solvers in the region. When I was 10, my parents quickly taught me their skills in investigation. Then I started taking classes, for seven years, evolved at 11, and when I became 17, started working for Chief Luxray." He took a sip of tea, then continued. "One year ago, my father passed away. A month after that, my mother died. Whether from death or suicide, I'll never know." He took a deep breath, and blinked away a few tears. "Their bodies were buried before I could have a look at them, which always, hurts. But I have the comfort of knowing they approved of my profession. The one thing I haven't done that they wanted to see is kids. My parents always wanted to become grandparents, but…" He sniffled, and Ammy looked at him sympathetically. "Well, they won't be seeing that now." He took another deep breath, and then asked, "What about you?"

She went to his side and stroked his back soothingly with her tail, and started speaking. "Well, my family… I didn't really know them in reality. When I was young, I was sent away to the daycare. Some said my mother was crazy, to leave a baby Eevee alone. But really, I respected her decision. You know, maybe I was an accident, and my parents were poor. The daycare took good care of me, and I was loved, both by my fellow orphans and the caretakers there. But one day," she said wistfully, "I hope to meet my parents. I just got the feeling in my bones, that they were good Pokemon."

He smiled. "I believe that completely. That's very sweet of you to say, even though they abandoned you."

She shrugged. "I might not be here if they kept me. And you know what… accidents happen. Hang on, what if the murder was just an accident? You know, like the feather cases."

He shook his head. "Possible, but _highly_ unlikely. I mean, who incinerates another Pokemon on accident? Anyways, let's go report to the chief. He'll want to hear about it."

Outside, the snow had stopped, and the sun was out for the first time in awhile. The two of them walked along the snow covered sidewalk, and heard the crunching of snow. "This is when I wished I became a Glaceon," she said jokingly. "I hate the cold with a passion."

"Well, at least the sun's up. Isn't that when you Espeons feel best?"

"Ehh, sometimes. But when it's this chilly, it hardly does anything… by the way, psychic types being able to mentally overcome anything is a _complete_ myth."

He chuckled. "Whatever. Anyways, where are you staying? You never mentioned having a house or anything."

"Well," she said, looking a little embarrassed, "I really have just been rooming with an Arcanine, who I've known since the daycare."

"Oh, your boyfriend?" he said, amused with her awkwardness.

"Oh no!" she said, blushing. "I mean, we're just splitting the bill to make it cheaper. I don't have time for a boyfriend! With work and everything…"

"Whatever. We're here, now." They had gotten to the city police department. They walked in through the main entrance, and were sitting outside the Chief's office.

"Ah, Ryuji and Ammy! C'mon in!" He beckoned them with his tail. "Good work on the Pidgeot case earlier this week! It'll be on the 2nd page of the paper! But now, I presume you want to see the body. It's around the corner."

"Alright, thank you chief. Let's go…" began Ammy.

"Ryuji, can I talk to you for a minute in private?"

"Oh, what is it?"

He motioned for Ammy to go away. "How is your apprentice doing?"

"Well, quite frankly, she's one of the brightest I've ever met, and it's not flattery. She reminds me of myself a bit."

Chief chuckled. "Good to see you two are getting along well. You two are probably the best around the city right now. I'm counting on you two!"

Taken aback by the praise, Ryuji grinned sheepishly. "Oh, sure thing boss!"

He nodded, then motioned that his audience was over, and Ryuji went outside. He immediately saw Ammy waiting outside. "What'd he want?" she asked.

"Keep up the good work. That's about all…"

"Alright… here, let's go look at the body… ugh…"

Ryuji laughed. "Hey, you had experience at school, right?" The two of them walked in through the doors. The body was already out, inside the room. "Alright, Ammy, tell me what you think from the body right now."

She looked over it, obviously a little grossed out, and said, "I'll have to change my opinion a little bit. See these cuts?" She pointed with her forked tail, and he nodded. "These weren't in the photos, or at least we couldn't see them. No, she was cut instead, and then somebody tried burning the body afterwards. But if you look closer, these flames aren't from a Pokemon, merely a normal fire that has been tried to look like a Typhlosion or Ninetales did it."

"Exactly… couldn't have said it better myself. And this, as we feared, is a big problem. Ever heard of The Cutter?"

"No… tell me!"

He sighed. "Well, The cutter was a notorious murderer. He's been terrorizing Nimbasa for four years, but the NPD does their best to keep it covered up as well as possible. He cuts up his victims, killing them. But he only kills women, and supposedly drinks up their blood."

"Ugh… that's disgusting. But what makes it so complicated? It's obviously him!"

"No. Despite the police department doing their best to keep it covered up, some of the crooks have found the files, and, as you might expect, have been copying his method. Most of the time, we can tell if it was him, because, well, their body is lacking about 25% of their total blood. Now, you probably think it's a bat Pokemon, but those leave teethmarks, which have never existed on one of the bodies."

Ammy looked up thoughtfully. "Well, the burning of the body will make it impossible to check for blood loss, but…"

"I know… we cannot check for blood loss."

She sighed. "Well, maybe the dissectors could find something… but that's unlikely. These cuts are deep… ugh… I'm going outside. This is disgusting!"

Ryuji let out an exasperated sigh. "You know, I've been very impressed with everything you've done, but you're grossed out too much. But you're right, we can take a break for now."

Outside, an Arcanine was sitting, obviously waiting for somebody. When he saw Ammy, he winked at her, and she walked next to him.

"Oh, Drew. What're you doing here?"

He looked suspiciously at Ryuji, before asking, "Who's that?"

"This is my boss, Ryujin, but I just call him Ryuji for short. Plus it's easier to say. Ryuji, this is Drew, my friend from the daycare."

"What's up?" said Ryuji, and Drew nodded back to him in response.

Drew turned towards Ammy. "Hey, I was thinking we could go and watch a movie later today, if you're not busy." He looked at Ryuji questioningly, and Ryuji nodded.

"Go on, take the rest of the day off. You've worked hard this entire week."

She bowed her head in thanks, but not before he saw her roll her eyes as the Arcanine nudged her along with him.

Ryuji sighed, and headed back to the office. He opened the door, sat down, and looked over the files. Just twenty years ago, Pokemon didn't do what they would do nowadays. They wouldn't get paid. And when the humans left, the Pokemon had to work for themselves. He sighed. Ammy had always seemed to help him focus a little more, with her tail tapping breaking the silence in the office. He popped a mint into his mouth, and slid on his headset. Music always helped him relax. He closed his eyes, and thought about the case. _When is an attempt to frame someone actually true? What if he's trying to make it look like he was framed?_ He quietly thought about what to try look into first. He looked up at the clock on the wall. 5:22! So much time had passed! With a groan, he pulled himself to his feet. "_Riinng!"_ The phone inside his headset went off.

"Answer," he said, and asked, "Ryuji, who is this?"

"Ammy. Did you find anything on the case?"

"Well… no. But I was thinking… say, what if it was meant to look like someone had framed him, sort of a triple framing, like he was… well, framing the framer? Burning is something a framer would do, to add their own unique touch as psychopaths like to do. So what if he added that to confuse us?"

She was quiet for awhile. She was obviously distracted. "How was your date?" he asked, trying to talk about something more casual.

"Date? No, we're just friends! Honestly. And it was fine. Nothing special, nothing terrible."

"What, you don't like him? He seems nice…"

"Well, _normally_. But he does have a really short temper… he can be sort of scary sometimes. But today, he was fine."

"Is something wrong? You seem a little distracted… first, you called about the case. Now you're just talking about your 'date'. You can tell me, and I'll see if I can help you."

She coughed, then said, "Well, I've kinda got a headache right now, actually. Drew was going to meet some friends at the bar tonight, and I'm not too sure what to do… I don't want it to get worse."

Ryuji thought carefully. "Alright, you can stay at my place for the night… when did you start feeling sick?"

"Right after the movie, really… where do you live?"

"5428 North Corphish Street, room 37. I'll start leaving the office now. Oh, by the way, would it be alright with Drew? I mean, he kinda is…"

"No, he's _not_ my boyfriend, are we clear? Don't mention that again or I'll Psychic you until you black out!"

Ryuji smiled. "Of course. See you soon." He said, "End call," and quickly ran to the nearest store to buy some food before heading home. He opened the door, turned on the lights with his tail, and opened the windows overlooking the city below. It had been awhile since anyone had visited here except him. He went up to the stove that had been built for quadruped Pokemon, and using his paws, turned up the heat. _So slow…_ he thought, so he quickly used Scald to steam the food faster. "That's better," he said aloud.

He heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, Ammy was sitting outside, with a scarf around her neck. She walked inside his room slowly, took a sniff, then sneezed before sitting down.

"Bless you…"

"Thanks… what are you cooking?"

"Oh, just some soup… here, I'll get some for you." Using his teeth and paws, he gave her a bowl of the soup.

She quietly lapped at it, then said, "Wow, this is really good! I didn't know you could cook so well."

"Well, being alone all the time allows me to experiment. Most ended up okay. Here, I'll Aqua Ring you. It'll speed up your recovery. Anyways, I think I know someplace where we can go and try get some information…"

"Ryuji? Can we ignore work just for tonight? I'm tired, and, well, can't we just act as friends rather than employers? I mean, really, that's all you ever talk about!"

"Alright… then… what do you wanna do? It's only…" he looked at the clock, then said, "7:51. Yeah, too early to sleep…"

She looked outside. "I wonder if Drew even knows I'm gone tonight…" she murmured. "Ryuji, honestly, I'm a little scared of Drew. He's much bigger than me, and he could beat me badly if he wanted to. I… I think I should move out, but I wouldn't know where to go, or how to tell him. But I'll stay with him for now… he's been fine to me at least."

"That's good to hear… you know, things might work out between you two still yet. Longtime friends sometimes make the best mates."

She sighed. "I don't think so… I just don't feel like I'm truly in love with him."

Ryuji shrugged. "Time will tell whether two Poke'mon are compatible. Why, what is it that you want that he is not?"

She replied immediately. "Humility. He's much too cocky. And he's too loud… a little quieter guy would be fine with me."

"Oh, he'll come around. You watch, Ammy…"

She frowned. "Whatever. Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Urgh… no."

"Then you can't say anything."

"Hey, I'm still older than you, Ammy. I've got a lot of good advice for this kind of thing."

She sighed. "Well, how come you don't have a girlfriend if you're so good at this kind of thing?"

"Maybe I should get one... but you know, I just haven't found that one who I can relate to completely. At least, I don't think so." He put the blanket between his teeth, and draped it over her. "It's getting a little cold, don't you think?"

"No, that's… oh, alright…"

He lay down next to her. "Alright… what should we do?"

"I don't know. Whatever is fine with me."

He swallowed. Outside of work, there wasn't much he did. Well, there was his training, but that's about all. It certainly didn't help that she was looking up at him with those massive, hazel colored-eyes… He hadn't really thought about it before, but Ammy was extremely attractive for a young Pokemon. Her well-kept fur, her slim curvy body, and her dainty walk would never suggest her as a detective.

"Ryuji? You there?"

"Nwah? Oh, yeah…"

"You were just standing there for about 30 seconds. And you said I was acting funny…"

"Never mind," he said briskly. "If the aqua ring helping you feel better?"

"Yeah… but are you sure you're alright? I mean, you were just staring at me…"

"Well… you just… looked like you had something in your eyes. It's gone now."

She blinked once. "Oh, must've been nothing. I didn't feel anything other than you staring at me…"

"Well, you've got pretty eyes…" he mumbled.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, I just said I was feeling a little shy. I normally don't have people over, even coworkers."

"Well… that's good to hear. I thought you said something else at first… you know, I'm going to go shower… where's your bathroom?"

"Oh, just turn to the right along that hallway. Let me know if you want it hotter."

"Sure… thanks." She walked down the hall, and Ryuji sat down on his bed, and he heard her close the door. A few minutes later, he heard the water go on, and he calmly closed his eyes. Almost instantly, he dozed off.

"Ryuji. Ryuji?"

"Wha… oh, Ammy! Ah! What time is it?"

"10:38. Don't worry, I just read a book while you were sleeping. I was just going to sleep on the couch, and I was just going to make sure that was okay with you…"

"Oh no, you'll get sick again if you do that! Here, you can sleep in the bed."

"But I'll feel bad for kicking you out… especially since you're my mentor. Tell you what, how about we both sleep on the bed, just opposite sides?"

"Isn't that a little weird…"

"Ryuji, we work together. AND you're my mentor. It's not that weird."

He sighed. "Alright." The two of them climbed underneath the blanket, and Ammy yawned.

"Ryuji, good night…"

"Goodnight, Ammy…" He fell asleep pretty quickly.

When he woke up, he heard a voice, Ammy's voice. "Hold me, Ryuji. I'm cold," he heard her murmur. He looked at the clock, and it read 5:11.

_What the…_ _it sounds like she's just dreaming. But what kind of dream is she… _Without thinking, he wrapped his paws around her. Her fur was soft, and her breathing was gentle. He lay down there, thinking about the case… or trying. With Ammy right there, so cute and peaceful, all he could think about was staring at her.

"Ryuji… you're so warm and muscular… I never knew Vaporeons could be this gentle…"

_She's just dreaming, she's just dreaming… _He shifted his body. "Well, I do work out a little bit… of course, I'm still weak compared to most others, but, well, sometimes, species does matter."

Not that he expected a response. She was sleeping. Of course, she wasn't. She spun around to face him, their two bodies almost touching. "Oh, so you think you're strong now?"

He casually tried to push his body away from her. "I thought you were still sleeping…" he stammered.

She looked amused, and slowly wrapped her tail around his back. "Let's just sleep now, Ryuji. Don't worry, sweetie…"

"What… again… wait…" He woke up, again. He looked at his clock, and it read, 2:14. "Oh, so that was all a dream…"

Ammy was still sleeping at the opposite end of the bed. He felt a little bit of disappointment that the dream hadn't been real, and sighed. The feelings he felt, the nervousness, was uncharted water. He stepped out of his bed, and flipped on his radio to quiet volume. Sometimes the best clues to a crime came from the radio.

_"Well, Gary, it comes down to the fact that videos of the victims doing censored actions to each other leads me to believe that these crooks work for the, ahem, 'undeground' Nimbasa."_

_ "Well, isn't this sort of like that Liepard case, where she had been burnt? These newest victims were found in a bar, one only about three buildings down from that case. We know the NPD is trying to crack down on the pornographic nature of the city, and these kidnappings and recordings sure aren't helping!"_

Hang on… pornographic underground? But he was pretty sure it was the cutter… unless the cutter was part of the underground…

He went to his phone, and said, "Call chief."

"Yeah, Ryuji? Whaddya want, man? I'm busy!"

"Well, I heard there had been some more killings on the radio, and it seems they are intertwined with our case?"

"Killings? Actually, you may be shocked to hear this. They are alive! And boy, do they have a story to tell!"


	2. Chapter 2

Ammy did not take kindly to being woken up at 2:30, but she forgave him after he told her he had a new lead on the case.

"Porn? I heard mayor Slowking was trying to fix that issue. But really…"

"They're called the snatchers. They pick up Pokemon off the streets, then make them rape each other and record it. It's an absolutely disgusting, disrespectful thing to do. They occasionally kill their victims, but most often let them go, scarred for life physically and mentally. But more importantly, the money they make allows the flow of drugs to continue through Nimbasa. As you know, Nimbasa is now the drug capital of the region, and the snatchers are the coal for that fire."

She looked sick. "What detestable Pokemon. That's a low thing to do, even for criminals!"

They arrived at the department. "May we see the victims?"

A Chansey was manning the recovery room. "Of course. The poor things… the are so traumatized! Can you blame them?"

Inside the room, a Glaceon and Umbreon were crying, not even looking at each other. Ammy looked frozen, staring at the two of them. "Excuse me," Ryuji began. "I know you've had a nightmarish time, so I'm not going to ask what happened, for now at least. But you two must tell me your names."

The Umbreon looked up, and seemed very surprised. For a moment, he seemed to relax, and said, "I'm Anu, short for Anubis. You're detective Ryujin, mainly known as Ryuji, right?"

Ryuji nodded. "What's the Glaceon's name?"

"She's Yuki, my former girlfriend. But after what happened…" he looked down again, and started crying.

"Ammy, go help Yuki. I'll stay here with Anu."

Ammy nodded, and walked over to Yuki and started talking to her gently. Anu turned towards Ryuji, seeming to recover a bit. "There are rumors you two are going out. Is that… true?"

He shook his head. "No. We are not going out, let me make that clear. But we do get along for the most part."

Anu sniffled. "Sure. I still don't get how she'll forgive me. It's not like we had a choice… but…" He took a deep breath. "I could accept our relationship is over."

Ryuji glanced over to where Yuki had stopped crying, but was still whimpering quietly, while Ammy whispered to her. She wouldn't look at Anu, and he sighed. "Well, if you still care for her, you could try talk to her. She can't be mad at you."

He shook his head, then looked at Renji, a little serious. "He wanted me to tell you something. Afterwards, they made us promise to pass on a message. He said, 'Ryuji and his sweet little Espeon are next. You tell them that, and that we're coming after them to avenge Arbok.' You guys… just be careful out there."

Ryuji was shocked. "Did you see who it was? Their leader?"

"Yeah. Their leader was a bipedal Pokemon. But there are many of them in the city, and this guy would blend in perfectly. His henchmen… I couldn't tell… maybe… something about 4 feet or so?" He took a deep breath. "I can tell you anything else you need to know."

"Did he threaten to cut you?"

"Yeah, well, Yuki at least. But one of the henchmen said, 'No, remember?' Then he sighed, and then forced us to… you know."

"Ryuji," Ammy called from across the room. "Bring over Anu…"

The four of them stood in the far corner of the room, but Yuki and Anu wouldn't look at each other. Yuki looked distraught, while Anu looked more sad. "Look, you two, I'm really sorry about what happened. But you two, well, if you break up, at least forgive each other."

She walked a little bit away, and beckoned Ryuji. "I really want to help them… I don't know. But she said Anu told you something important." She frowned. "What was it?"

Ryuji laid out the facts for her. "And Anu said that we should watch our back. He said the snatchers might try and come for us…"

"Ew…" she said. "I'd rather die before being forced to…" She shuddered. "Let's be very careful. But knowing they were bipedal and friends of Arbok… and one who also cuts up opponents… claws… hmm…"

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a giant shape loomed up in front. Anu stepped protectively in front of Yuki, who cowered nervously.

It was Drew, Ammy's boyfriend. "D…Drew! What are you…"

"Shut up please. Just come home…"

His breath smelled of alchohol, and he had a crazed look in his eyes.

"I'm working, in case you haven't noticed…"

"Where were you last night? Don't think I didn't notice you were gone!" He raised his paw to hit Ammy, who was frozen with fear.

_Sploosh!_ Ryuji quickly aimed a Scald at Drew, and he promptly collapsed, knocked out cold.

"What… wait, Ryuji! I had him under control!"

"Right… Ammy, he was about to hit you, in case you didn't notice."

She looked a little scared still. "I… can't believe he would attack me… I thought he cared for me…"

Ryuji quietly stroked her back with his tail, before Chief Luxray came in. "Somebody said there was a crazy Arcanine here… oh, there he is. Did Ryuji neutralize him?"

Anu spoke up. "Yes, Chief. It was Ammy's boyfriend."

Ammy stood up. "I'm sorry chief. He is _not _my boyfriend. He's just a friend. I think he was just a little drunk…"

"Well, make sure it doesn't happen again. I have to take 'em to the 'bench' for now."

"I understand, chief."

He nodded, then dragged the unconscious Arcanine out of the room.

"You should really move out now… he's dangerous, that guy," said Ryuji warningly.

She sighed. "I know…I know…"

Yuki seemed to get back her senses, and seemed to snap out of the trauma she had endured. "Anu…" she began.

"Yuki… I'm so sorry…"

A few tears began to drip down both of their cheeks. "I know we had no choice… and I cannot blame you for that…"

"I know… can we put this past us, and forget that this happened?"

"I… I'm not too certain. I'll need to make the decision on whether to stay together or not."

Anu nodded, then said, "I'll respect your decision, no matter what." And with that, they rubbed noses.

Ammy whispered into his ear. "This is very touching… it's clear they are meant for each other. But they might need some help later on."

Ryuji flicked his fins in agreement, but couldn't hide a yawn. "It's so darn early…"

Ammy giggled, then said, "How about you go back home? Since I took half the day off, I'll finish getting information with them, and take care of Anu and Yuki."

"Oh, you sure you don't want to come to my place and…"

She blinked at him, then laughed. "Oh, Ryuji… I can sleep at my place, now that I feel better. But," she said with a smile, "thank you for helping me, Ryuji. I feel a lot better."

He nodded, and, after saying goodbye to the three of them, walked out into the cold morning. He felt sleepy, but energized by what they had learnt. He shivered in the cold a little bit, then quietly passed the apartments, into a small park. He could see his breath, and everything seemed so peaceful. It was hard to believe crime was so large here.

A cold breeze blew, and he shivered again. It felt like somebody was watching him, and he remembered Anu's warning. He quickly ran back to his house, and sat down on his couch. He didn't feel so sleepy anymore, but he lay there, and fell asleep after a few minutes.

He woke up when he heard the phone ringing, and quickly looked at his clock. It read 7:57. "Damn!" He was late for work, the first time ever!

He quickly picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Ryuji? Oh, I thought you'd still be sleeping… anyways, meet me at the police department. I think… I think I'm going to need your help doing something… please just meet me there."

She sounded nervous, and Ryuji knew something was up. "I'll get there ASAP."

"Thanks."

He ended the call, then put his key back around his neck, and went out the door, to quickly arrive at the department. Ammy was sitting outside, twitching her tail nervously.

"Ammy."

"Oh, you're here…"

"Tell me, what is up? You seem… jittery…"

She swallowed. "Well, it's… Drew. I know that I want to leave him… but I'm scared of what he might do to me. I needed someone who could quickly stop him if he tried to after me, and you're probably the best guy to do it.

"Alright… where is he?"

"Inside that room… let's go in."

Drew was sitting down, looking at the two of them menacingly. "Ammy… what are you doing here with that Vaporeon?"

"Ugh, he's my boss! I already told you!"

"Whatever. Here, can we go home now?"

She took a deep breath. "Drew, we're done. I'm going to move out today…"

"What? Shut up, and stop joking!"

She spoke in barely a whisper. "I'm dead serious. All you d is yell, and I'm tired of it. You treat me like nothing… like you don't care about me…"

"Well, maybe I don't!" he countered.

"Wha… no, I… I thought you cared for me…"

He yawned, then looked back at her. "Whatever… go and find somewhere else to say, that's all I'm saying."

Ryuji was sick of this guy. He was abusing her! "Drew."

"What?"

"You're never gonna find a mate if you keep going like this."

He snorted. "That's coming from the Vaporeon with no family. Go away." He shouldered his way past the shocked Espeon outside into the main hall.

She bowed her head down sadly, and said, "Well, now I'm a friendless, homeless Espeon. I truly did believe he cared for me more than that…"

"You're not friendless, Ammy. I'm your friend."

She cast him one of those little smiles. "That's nice of you to say… I suppose I'll have to find another place to stay though…"

"Well… I suppose for now, you could stay at my place…"

"Oh, you'd be willing to do that? Thank you so much, Ryuji!" She gave him a hug, and said, "Oh, you're so kind! I…"

"Shh… you don't need to yell. But, for now, we'll work on the case. I want to ask Anu and Yuki some other things."

"Alright. Just… thank you, Ryuji."

He shrugged. "Let's go find Anu and Yuki…"

"Umm, we're still here!" He turned around to find Anu and Yuki sitting down just outside the door. "We saw you guys go into that room, and we suspected you'd want to speak to us. So, you two are sharing an apartment?"

"Well, just until she finds somewhere else. Anyways, can we ask you where you think they took you?"

Yuki shivered, and Anu looked down. "Follow us," said Anu.

Today, it was raining outside, and they were being led to a more shady part of town. Yuki spoke up. "You see, we had just seen a movie, and Anu was walking me home like, you know, a good boyfriend does. Then…" She closed her eyes, and a few tears fell from her face.

Anu looked uncomfortable, and continued where she left off. "Well, you see, we were talking about our plans tomorrow, when we felt a hand on our backs. Then, just like that, we had been teleported away, into what looked like an apartment. The captors were concealed in shadow, and we were pinned down almost. He, their leader, said, 'You two… welcome here.' I asked him to let us go, and that was when Yuki wrapped her tail around mine. Of course he said no, then he asked us if we were in love with each other. To protect her, I said no, but one of the Pokemon knew mind reader… I could feel the tug on my mind. Underneath the shadows, he laughed, then said, 'How about you two make love?' Shocked, I told him no. But then he asked us if we wanted some water, and, we both declined. That was apparently the wrong thing to say, and they forced it down our throats. I remember passing out sort of after that, and we both woke up in the hospital. They told us we had both been raped, and, well, after tests, they found out we had done it."

Ammy quietly comforted the now sobbing couple, and looked up at Ryuji. "I really want to find these guys now. These two… they destroyed their lives, and their relationship."

Ryuji quietly crouched down to look at something on the ground. It was a card, rain stained, and almost tearing. Still, he could make out the words. "Glimmer Plaza…"

"What?"

He turned to Anu and Yuki. "You two… thank you. Ammy and I have a lead. You guys should go home and rest up. We'll call you if we need anything… thanks."

They both bowed their heads, and walked away, keeping careful eye for anything. Ammy turned to him. "I assume you found something."

"Sure did."

When they arrived at Glimmer Plaza, they went up to the Raichu sitting at the desk. He held out his police card, which was attached to his necklace. "NPD here. We were pretty curious whether you've seen anything funny around here."

"Umm… nope. Well… define 'funny'."

"Like kidnappings?"

He let out a whistle, then bent down to talk to them. "Look, the manager didn't want me to tell you guys this, but…" He looked around cautiously, then whispered, "The Snatchers… I assume you two are here for them. They're paying our manager absurd amounts of cash to keep quiet, and he's abiding. But if you want to go have a quick look around the room, I can get them out for about 30 minutes. Take the stairs, as they'll probably be taking the elevator instead. Here's the key to room 917."

He clipped it onto Ammy's necklace, and she politely bowed her head. "Thank you. Here, let's go, Ryuji!"

The two of them sprinted up the stairs towards 917, and they quietly peered out the stairwell towards the hallway. Rooms 915 and 917 were in line with each other. Ryuji quietly pulled out his radio. "This is detective Ryujin, Ryuji for short. Chief Luxray, I'm requesting backup at the Glimmer Plaza apartment. Ammy and I are going in. Room 917." He flipped it off, and inserted the key. Ammy got ready to attack if necessary. But when he opened the door, nothing happened. The two of them quietly looked around, making nobody had remained behind. Inside, the room was filled with all sorts of disturbing pictures, scattered all over. Ammy looked sick to the gut, but she carefully picked up a picture of Anu and Yuki, and, using her psychic abilities, ripped it in two.

"Ryuji, we've got our evidence. Let's get out of here!"

He nodded. "Yeah, lets get out of here!"

"If only it was that easy, you two." Turning around slowly, Ryuji saw a large Electivire grinning at him. "Like my photo collection? Or maybe my videos? Don't worry, you two will be added to it _very_ soon." He smiled, and 4 Electabuzzes came out from behind him. "How about a quick shock, detectives?"

And that was all he remembered before passing out.

When he woke up, he was tied down to the floor. Next to him, he saw the same had been done to Ammy. The ropes were very tight, and they had very little movement. "Well, well, aren't you two cuties?"

"Shut… up…" said Ammy.

The Electivire frowned. "That's a harsh thing to say. I was complimenting you, you know."

"Leave her alone!"

He turned his attention towards Ryuji. He smirked. "She's going to want you to leave her alone soon, more or less. And _**don't**_ try vaporizing, or your partner will be shocked really badly, and I don't want to ruin this pretty face. Buzzy, c'mere!" One of the Electabuzzes stepped forward, holding two glasses of water.

"What is that?" said Ammy. "In the water… Anu and Yuki… what did you put in it?"

"Ahh, you're pretty observant. You see, as you might know, we aren't the ones who defile those we capture. They defile _each other_. How? Inside these cups are extremely potent aphrodisiacs." Ammy glanced at Ryuji, and, with wide open eyes, gulped in nervousness. Ryuji felt a bead of sweat drip. The Electivire slowly nodded to the Electabuzzes, and they stepped back. "Get the cameras ready, the news is gonna want to see this!"

He quickly winched open both their mouths, and poured in the water, and the Electabuzzes threw them into a room, then locked the door. Ryuji got up and looked around. The room looked like a bedroom… _Oh lord Arceus!_ He quickly walked next to Ammy who was lying down, looking at her paws.

"This medicine… how long will we have before it kicks in?"

"I… I don't know, Ammy…"

"Ryuji… please don't hurt me…" she whispered, softly.

"I won't. I promise you Ammy." He quietly pulled himself near her. "We mustn't give them what they want!"

He quietly looked up in the left corner, to see the camera watching their every move.

"Ryuji?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm starting to feel… a little… warm… is that bad?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not good… actually I'm feeling it too…"

She spoke quietly now. "It's kicking in, isn't it? I'm starting to feel really… actually, I've never felt this way before… I guess… aroused?"

Ryuji could feel it too. He needed Ammy badly right now. He took a deep breath, then said, "Keep calm, Ammy. Relaxation should help the aphrodisiac wear off.

"Oh…Okay."

The two of them just sat there, not touching, not looking at each other, doing there best to keep calm. But Ryuji could feel both his mind and body slowly starting to get desperate. If something didn't change soon, he was going to have to satisfy his desires with Ammy… no, he couldn't think about that.

Next to him, Ammy's eyes were closed, but her body was shaking from the focus. Looking at her shaking was distracting, and, without thinking, he pounced on top of her.

"Ryuji… no… I… don't… touch me…"

He slowly pressed his mouth to hers for a long passionate kiss, and felt his entire body tighten up. When he looked at her, he felt the urge… he couldn't keep it inside of him any longer. He pressed Ammy onto her back, and she looked at him, submissive. "Ammy… I… can't… stop…"

She looked back at him, her eyes glowing. "I know… please don't be too rough with me…"

Then, suddenly, they heard the door open. They both looked at the door, to see Anu and Yuki standing there, with a knocked out Electivire. Chief Luxray was behind them, and said, "Well, perfect timing. Pull them apart, Anu and Yuki."

They nodded and pulled them away from each other. "Did you two do anything?" asked Yuki seriously.

"No… at least, I don't think so… ugh… I feel sick!" said Ammy.

Ryuji himself had a huge headache, and he hoped the aphrodisiac was wearing off. He felt like collapsing, and, for the first time, felt the pain of those discharges. He had to lean on Anu to walk out of the building, and, once they got outside, he and Ammy were strapped onto a Stantler, and rushed to the nearest Pokemon center.

There wasn't much else he remembered other than coming to in the center. On a bed next to him, Ammy was asleep. In a corner of the room, Anu and Yuki were also sleeping, cuddled up, as if their past was behind them. He stood up, and looked out the window, which overlooked the streets. The moon was out, and he quietly took a deep breath. He would have to question the Electivre later. Something told him this guy wasn't their leader… his mannerisms didn't match the profile. Still, he would have to keep his temper when questioning the guy for what he almost caused.

"Ryuji." It was Ammy.

"Mm. What is it?"

"I can't sleep… I keep thinking about how I couldn't control myself when… you know."

He turned to face her. "I know. My mind… it was out of control. That aphrodisiac… I couldn't stop myself."

She sat up next to him, and he felt her wrap her tail around his. "You know… we wouldn't be able to even talk to each other if Chief hadn't arrived when he did. We'd be in the same boat as Anu and Yuki. But you know… no harm was done, and I think we can get over this."

He sighed, but felt a warm feeling inside of him as their tails twined. "You know… maybe it's a good thing that we are staying with each other. I feel a lot closer to you than before."

She sat there, unmoving in the moonlight. "You know, Ryuji, I feel the same way. I mean, you're almost like a little mystery in yourself; you get what I'm saying? You're this smart, good looking, Vaporeon, but you're so quiet and mysterious at the same time. I want to try the challenge of solving you!"

"Good looking? Thanks…"

"I didn't mean it that way… no jumping to conclusions, you told me that a week ago."

"Of course you didn't."

She stiffened indignantly. "Hey, I'm not trying to imply…"

He pulled her closer to him with her tail. "I'm so glad we were assigned together. You're so cute, you know."

She blushed. "Hey, don't try flattery!"

"It's not flattery if it's the truth, Ammy. Look, tomorrow, I was thinking we could get settled at my place, then, well, head out for lunch and go… do something fun. The day after, we'll question that Electivire."

"Something fun? Like what? You know, how about we go to the bookstore? There a new book I want to get. It's a romance novel… more for girls though."

"Alright… hey, you want me to go tell the Chansey we're feeling fine? You can go wake up Yuki and Anu."

She nodded, and Ryuji negotiated early release from the center with the Chansey. "I overheard you and Ammy saying something about staying together… is that true?"

"Well, yeah. She got kicked out by her boyfriend, so she's been staying at my place."

The Chansey looked down, and grinned. "Well, everyone's going to know now!"

"What? No, that's not what it sounds like!"

The Chansey signed a little card, then said, "Well, you two are free to go. You know, you two have sort of become heroes in our eyes. We're all rooting for you two."

Ryuji nodded, a little embarrassed. "Thanks." He turned around, only to find Ammy's giant eyes staring back at him. "Ah! What… don't do that…"

She stepped back, then grinned. "Sorry!" She looked at the Chansey, then said, "Ready to head home?"

The Chansey's eyes got big, then she turned around and whispered to a Furret behind the counter.

Ryuji shut his eyes. "Let's go."

Anu was waiting outside, while Yuki was stretching in the snow. They both came running over. "Ammy told us about your guys' plans tomorrow. We'll hop on with you two." He looked at Yuki, and the two of them kissed.

"So… it's a date, then?" said Ryuji, but Ammy frowned.

"Hang on there, this isn't a date. Right? I was just going to hang out with you."

"You know," interrupted Yuki, "You two seem surprisingly good-natured to each other after what happened just a few hours ago."

Ryuji was about to say something, but Ammy started speaking. "Well, no harm was done really. I mean, yeah, things would be so much more different if Ryuji had taken advantage of me, but, well, no harm was really done. Besides, he's really the only Pokemon I've got now. Just don't make any assumptions as to that statement."

"Aww, that's so sweet, Ammy! I mean, really!"

Ryuji didn't know what to say. "Wait, what?" But Ammy was already walking away with Yuki, and Anu was walking a short way behind them. "Ammy… wait up!"

The two of them arrived at Ryuji's apartment a little while later, after bidding goodbye to Anu and Yuki. Yuki and Ammy had already seemed to plan everything, and were like two best friends by the time they got home.

When Ryuji and Ammy got into his apartment, Ammy yawned, and said, "You know, your girlfriend will be a very lucky lady, Ryuji. We're not even together and you're so sweet. Anyways, I'm going to wash off, unless you want to go first."

He shook his head. "Nah, you go ahead."

She looked as if she wanted to start speaking, then gently shook her head before heading to the shower. Ryuji sighed. After tomorrow, it was back to work. But he would enjoy tomorrow.


	3. An Announcement

**In advance, this is NOT the next chapter of City Blues. City Blues is far from being finished, but I decided to work on another story, also a VaporeonXEspeon fanfiction. This one is rated M for some sexual moments, but I think most people should like it. It's called, "**_**Living in the Shadows"**_** This Chapter will be replaced by actual Ch.3 ASAP. Thanks for reading, guys **


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